The Illiterate
by BuBuWinter
Summary: Scarlet O'Leary: hybrid, thief, and the daughter of a notorious criminal. She's sick of being unappreciated by her clan, so she comes up with a plan. Plans, however, are never perfect. (Title/summary will likely change. Rating may go up.)


**AN: This is purely just a side project. Don't expect updates every week, or even every month. In fact, it'd probably be best to just not expect updates for a while, and be happy when I do update. This is the revival of my old story _Scarlet_, now new-and-improved in terms of the first chapter. I was running low on time to complete Firestorm's contest, and I'm ashamed to say my first project just wasn't turning out for that, so this was just a quick replacement I did at 10:48 at night. Yeeeep. Anyways, enjoy!**

_Chapter 1:_

_The Hunt_

The warm smells of freshly cooked meat told Scarlet she was close. Very close. Her mouth watered, her stomach rumbled, and her claws scratched at the cobblestone floor beneath her in anxious anticipation.

She stalked along the alleyway, and as she approached her target the smell became evermore tempting, delectable, so much so she could _taste _it. She stood up appropriately on her two legs, just as any anthro should, and pulled her black leather hood over head, feeling the coarse fabric scratch the tips of her pointed ears. Now she was safe, unrecognizable.

And she was ready for the steal.

Using her agility and briefly thanking her hybrid cat genes, she easily scaled the wall to a high-rise window, using her claws and long limbs to her advantage. After checking to be sure no one resided in the room she was breaking in to, she pulled herself up completely and tiptoed along the window pane. She leapt, landing silently on the wooden floor on all fours. She sniffed, licking her lips in the process, silver cat eyes wide with the hunger of a hunter.

Varying kinds of meat hung from hooks on the ceiling, raw and scrumptious. Beyond them, more meat, only this time cooked to savory perfection. She stood back up and opened her large cloth sack, smirking to herself as she quickly gathered all she could carry.

The hunt went off without a hitch.

Satisfied with a job well done, she hefted the sack over her shoulder and made her way back down the wall, using her one free arm to grab onto various bars and railings as she skillfully lowered herself to the ground before sprinting off into the darkness of the night.

Her father was going to be pleased.

-S-

"What the hell is this?" Well, it wasn't the first time she was wrong.

Scarlet glared silver daggers at Pops O'Leary as the yellow-furred buffoon rummaged through the sack of pillaged meat. Her ears twitched in anger, and she bore her sharp, pearl white teeth in the beginnings of a snarl. O'Leary slammed his fists down on the table, golden eyes meeting silvery-gray ones in equal malice.

"I told ya to bring back meat! Did ya just fetch this from the garbage? There's hardly enough here ta feed the crew!" It was an angry exaggeration; there was plenty of food. Scarlet's rage boiled to a peak, and she shoved her face up to O'Leary, claws unsheathing.

"What'd ya expect me to do?" Scarlet snapped. "I was alone, I ain't that big and I ain't that strong! Ya can't expect me ta pillage the whole damn store and bring it all back!"

"I expect you to be effective," O'Leary leaned forward, hot breath billowing into her outstretched human face. "You're lucky I didn't throw ya in the gutter, prissy! I saved your hybrid hide from the cops, and you owe me!" He jabbed a clawed finger into her chest, drawing the slightest bit of blood. "You're eleven years old now, Scarlet. I want results, not garbage."

Scarlet opened her mouth to argue, but she quickly shut it. This cat - this so-called _father - _was the only thing between her and life in a cardboard box. She couldn't lose the roof over her head, not yet, not until she had what she needed. Instead she bowed in forced respect and turned around, hissing under her breath as O'Leary called his posse to dinner.

She slunked over to a small wooden table, dubbed the "kiddy table" by the clan, and took a seat, watching as cats of every shape and size slithered out of the shadows and surrounded their leader. One of them glanced in her direction, a small, reassuring smile gracing his pretty, white-furred face. Scarlet just snorted. He glanced about the older cats, and when none seemed to pay him any mind he stuffed a turkey leg into his shirt and scampered over to her.

"Nice pickin', Scar. Keep the fam good and full tonight."

"Pops don't seem to think so." Scarlet frowned, but as the white tom pulled out the turkey she allowed herself to replace it with an ever-so-slight, ever-so-forced smile. "Thanks, Scourge."

"Don't let the old cat get ta ya, precious," Scourge ran his fluffy hand through her knotted black hair, picking out a few tangles with his long claws. "Pops ain't happy with any pickin's these days."

Scarlet shrugged, batting his hand away and leaning back in her seat, taking a bite of the turkey before passing it back to Scourge. "I dunno, man. I think he jus' don't like me."

"Nonsense!" Scourge snapped through a mouthful of meat, passing the leg back to Scarlet. "He woulda kicked ya out if he didn't like ya. What makes ya say he don't?"

"I'm a hybrid." The words were like poison on her thin lips as she hissed the words out. She glared at the turkey leg like it was the one who caused he so many issues and bit into it with more aggression then needed. "He claimed he just saved me, but I know I'm his kitten. I'm prolly just some viol babe."

"Maybe ya are," Scourge agreed with a shrug. "Ya a pretty hybrid though."

Scarlet laughed outright at that. "As if!"

Scourge shrugged again, smirking as he finished off the the turkey leg and throwing the bone over his shoulder. "Maybe not pretty," he said in a mild agreement. "You got that whole inturned body crap goin' on, but at least you're a good blend o' cat and human. Hide certain parts and ya fit in fine ta either world."

"With the 'ception of the inturned body crap ya mean." Scarlet purred in amusement. Scourge chuckled and nodded.

"With the exception o' that, yeah." Someone suddenly called to the white tom, and he immediately stood up from his seat, the chair falling back in the process. Eyes alight with excitement for the hunt, he smiled a toothy grin at his friend before scampering off to his mentor. Scarlet watched him go, fur-tipped ears twitching.

She brushed a hand along the slick black fur covering the back of her forearm, feeling where it faded away to pale, patchy skin and picking at the dead skin of her dry rashes. Her fingers met the bump where here elbow bent, coming to a sharp point just a few centimeters above the normal area. She rubbed the top of it, feeling the bone through skin and fur, absently watching as Scourge, her only friend, went out for a hunt, flanked by two other members of the O'Leary clan. Anthro cat anatomy wasn't ugly; Scourge was proof of that, with his lean features and elegant was when cat bones and humans bones connected that things grew ugly. Angrily, she dug two claws deep into her elbow right where it started to jut out awkwardly, blood seeping around the two punctures and clumping with the fur.

How different her life might have been had she been pure-blood.

Absently, she stood up, choosing to walk away from the meeting sight even though she knew it would only land her in trouble. She walked through the crowded Marleybonian streets silently, her black leather robe helping her to blend in with the crowd. She avoided cops when necessary, and when two started to come toward her she immediately slunk to the side. However, a juicy bit of gossip, just as succulent as any meat, met her sensitive ears, and she couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"Yep, Ravenwoods accepting students again. Rumor has it drop-out rate for them is shooting for new heights. It's odd, ain't it? Ravenwood losing students? Almost unheard of."

"Yeah. I hear they're even having representatives visit each world in order to try and get some students. Can't say I blame 'em. People just don't have a liking for magic anymore, or they don't want to learn for one reason or another."

"It's tough being a wizard. Always on call whenever there's trouble even after graduation, dangerous tasks from the point of training with often deadly consequences. Takes courage to study to be a wizard, much less complete those studies."

Scarlet glanced in the direction of the Abbey, where the Spiral Door was located. She had heard of Ravenwood and magic teachers, but she never thought much of it. Now though, she was thinking. Considering. Comparing. A dangerous job being a wizard? Becoming powerful in the magical arts? It was even more tempting than the meat. It was a different kind of prey, and she found it absolutely _mouthwatering._

What's more, it would prove to her father she was much stronger than he thought.

A plan began to stir in her mind. The hunt was on.

**Terms: Viol babe - rape baby; a term used for a child conceived by rape, often used in an offensive manner.**


End file.
